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• Rooney, Barry, Crouch? Who are the ultimate Premier League 'Barclaysmen'?

  The international window is over, as Premier League football returns this weekend, but the two-week break had supporters reminiscing. 

  From 2004 to 2016, Barclays was the Premier League's sponsor.

  And in a trend that has taken over social media, "Barclaysmen" have been picked out as players synonymous with that 12-year period. 

  Here, we take a deep dive into Opta data to find out which players were the actual hallmarks of the Barclays Premier League. 

  410 - Gareth Barry led the way with 410 matches played for Aston Villa, Manchester City and Everton between 2004 and 2016 – he is, of course, also the Premier League's all-time record holder for appearances too, with a whopping 653 to his name.

  James Milner is set to overtake Barry this season, though, and 369 of his 637 matches came in this 12-year span.

  178 - Bursting onto the scene as a 16-year-old, Wayne Rooney would go on to become one of the greatest goalscorers the division has ever seen. 

  Starting his career with Everton, Rooney joined Manchester United in 2004, where he won five league titles during the Barclays era. 

  In that 12-year span, no player scored more goals than the mercurial forward, who netted 178 times, with his former United club-mate Robin van Persie (144) second, ahead of Chelsea's Frank Lampard (132).

   

  Rooney wasn't just a goalscorer. He also provided 88 assists in this era, taking his total goal contributions tally to 266, 54 more than the next-best, Lampard (212).

  1,430 - Naturally, being the top goalscorer from 2004 and 2016, Rooney also tops the rankings for the most shots taken during that period, with 1,430.

  Rooney's most prolific season came during the 2011-12 campaign, when he netted 27 Premier League goals, but it wasn't enough to stop rivals Manchester City from lifting their first top-flight title since 1968. 

  Midfielder Lampard (1,118) is next on the list for shots, with Van Persie (963), Jermain Defoe (939) and Steven Gerrard (919) next.

  95 - What about creativity?

  When it comes to assists, there were no better in this time span than Cesc Fabregas, who laid on 95 goals across spells at Arsenal and Chelsea.

  Interestingly, though, Gerrard (767) led the way for chances created, with Lampard (759) also coming in ahead of Fabregas, though it is worth noting the Spaniard spent time away from the Premier League after leaving Arsenal for Barcelona.

   

  43 - When it comes to headed goals, you won't be surprised to see that six-foot-seven-inch Peter Crouch led the way, with 43.

  Crouch represented Aston Villa, Southampton, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Spurs and Stoke during the Barclays era, becoming well-known for his lanky frame and ability in the air. 

  He 'heads' the list by 12 goals to former Everton forward Tim Cahill, who scored 31 goals with his head despite being three inches under six foot.

  30 - Having come close to having the most goals in the Barclays era, Lampard tops the list for the most goals scored from outside the box across its 12-year timeframe. 

  Known for his incredible knack of being in the right place at the right time, Lampard's ability both in and outside the box made him one of the deadliest midfielders the division has ever seen. 

  Strikes against Norwich City, Fulham and away at Goodison Park are standouts, with the Englishman often finding the back of the net when pulling back his cultured right foot. 

  11 - While James Ward-Prowse leads the way for the most free-kick goals scored in the Premier League, Sebastian Larsson might just be the true embodiment of a Barclaysman.

  The former Arsenal, Birmingham City and Sunderland midfielder scored 11 direct free-kick goals between 2004-05 and 2015-16, one more than five-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo and Morten Gamst Pederson, who must be another candidate for the ultimate Barclaysman.

  That being said, who had the most direct free-kick shots? It wasn't any of the above. Instead, it was Lampard, who tried his luck 173 times, scoring on nine occasions.

  486 - Charles N'Zogbia. Remember him?

   

  A star for Wigan Athletic, N'Zogbia completed 486 dribbles during his time in the division. Surprisingly, Glen Johnson, a full-back, was the next best with 481, ahead of Eden Hazard (463).

  Remarkably, though, Ronaldo comes in at fifth, and that is despite only playing in five of the Barclays seasons. He completed 449 dribbles in total, an average of 2.7 per game.

  1,107 - Jussi Jaaskelainen, the baby-faced Finn, made 1,107 saves in the Barclays era, which puts him ahead of Mark Schwarzer (1,018) and Tim Howard (1,014).

  Petr Cech, meanwhile, was the goalkeeper to keep the most clean sheets (178).

  48 - Now time for the unlucky statistics during the Barclays era. During his spells with Arsenal and Man United, no one struck the woodwork more than Robin van Persie. 

  Despite netting 144 goals in his 280 Premier League appearances, ranking 14th on the all-time list, the Dutchman could have been among the top 10 scorers to play in the division had it not been for the crossbar and posts.

  Van Persie also squandered the most big chances (80), though Sergio Aguero (78) was hot on his heels.

  910- Out on his own by three, former Aston Villa, Man City and QPR defender Richard Dunne is the unfortunate man to have scored the most own goals between 2001-02 and 2012-13, with 10.

  Across his time in the Premier League, the Republic of Ireland did manage to score more goals at the right end, finishing his career in 2015 with 11 top-flight strikes. 

• Brighton boss Hurzeler predicts swift return for injured O'Riley

  Matt O'Riley is in good spirits and could come back "quite fast" as he recovers from ankle surgery, so says Brighton coach Fabian Hurzeler.

  Brighton signed Denmark international O'Riley from Celtic last month, but the midfielder sustained an injury on his debut.

  O'Riley was on the end of a poor challenge from Crawley Town's Jay Williams, and subsequently had to undergo surgery.

  Ahead of Brighton's meeting with Ipswich Town on Saturday, Hurzeler said O'Riley could return ahead of schedule.

  "He's in very good spirits. He has a great character, a great attitude, so immediately after the surgery he was very, very positive," Hurzeler said of the 23-year-old.

  "He is around us in the training ground, he is doing his rehab already and I think he will be coming back quite fast."

  Brighton have made a strong start to the season, going unbeaten in their opening three Premier League matches.

   

  And for new boss Hurzeler, the international break provided an opportunity to reflect on the first weeks of the campaign.

  "For me it was time to reflect, to re-analyse the first few weeks," said the 31-year-old, who is the youngest coach in Premier League history.

  "I think it is very important to reflect on what is going good so far and where we can improve. That was the first thing I did.

  "The second thing was to plan the next phase and the next week because now we have a lot of games in the next period of time. We have a lot of home games so we want to use this chance.

  "For me it was more reflection and planning. Of course, I also had one or two minutes for myself."

  Brighton v Ipswich will be the 936th different fixture to be played in the Premier League. They met eight times in the top flight between 1979 and 1983 (four Ipswich wins, two Brighton wins, two draws), with the Tractor Boys winning 2-0 in the most recent thanks to goals from John Wark and Alan Brazil.

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Brighton - Simon Adingra

  Excluding own goals, Adingra has scored five of Brighton's last eight Premier League goals against newly promoted opponents. This accounts for 71% of the Ivorian's Premier League goals (5/7).

  Ipswich Town - Leif Davis

  Davis was a star for Ipswich in the Championship last season, and he leads the way for the Tractor Boys for chances created (three).

  That being said, he will be tested defensively on Saturday, with Yankuba Minteh likely to start down Brighton's right flank.

  MATCH PREDICTION: BRIGHTON WIN

  Ipswich have had the fewest shots (19), shots on target (seven) and the lowest expected goals total (1.2) of any side in the Premier League so far this season. 

  And in a run stretching back to March 2002, Ipswich have lost each of their last five Premier League away games by an aggregate score of 18-3. They are winless in their last eight on the road in the top-flight (D1 L7) since a 2-1 win at Everton in February 2002.

  Meanwhile, Brighton have won six of their last eight Premier League matches in September (D1 L1), scoring 3+ goals in each of their last four such victories. However, their last September match ended in a 6-1 defeat at Aston Villa.

  Brighton have lost just one of their last 13 Premier League home games against promoted sides (W5 D7), going down 1-0 against Fulham in February 2023.

  Ipswich have won two of their last four away league games against Brighton (D1 L1), with those wins coming in March 2014 (2-0) and December 2015 (1-0). They had been winless in their previous eight league visits to the Seagulls before this (D5 L3).

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Brighton - 65.7%

  Ipswich - 15.3%

  Draw - 19%

• Eidevall wishes Miedema well but Arsenal keen to move on

  Jonas Eidevall wished former Arsenal forward Vivianne Miedema all the best after her move to Manchester City, as the Gunners prepare for the upcoming Women's Super League season.

  Arsenal are set to begin life without the WSL's all-time leading scorer, who left the club after netting 80 times in 106 appearances during her seven-year spell.

  Miedema also holds the WSL record for most shots (452), efforts on target (198), touches in the opposition box (816) and goals from inside the area (70).

  In WSL history, only Bethany England (48) has converted more big chances than the Netherlands international (44), while Miedema has also provided 35 assists.

  Ironically, Miedema's first WSL appearance for her new club will come against Arsenal on September 22, two days after the start of the new campaign on Friday, September 20, for which Eidevall is now focused on getting his current squad ready.

  Speaking at the Barclay's WSL's 2024-25 season launch Media Day, he told Stats Perform: "Of course, Vivianne Miedema has had a really good history at Arsenal, some really good contributions to the club. 

  "Then, you come to a point where you need to say, what does the squad need here now for the next season? We prioritise these players that we now have in the squad.

  "[We] wish Viv all the best. I think she's going to have a really good and successful season with Manchester City, but we're really happy and content with the squad that we have."

  Arsenal are aiming to improve on last term's third-place finish, and Eidevall wants his players to produce high-quality performances on a more frequent basis.

  "We need to keep our highs that we had last season," he added. 

  "I think we showed - both with performances and results against the teams that were finishing at the top of the league - that we were a really good football team, but we lacked the consistency.

  "So, we need to keep our highs, but we need to raise our lows from last season. That's not easy, but if we can do that, then we can be winning."